The inspiration for this piece comes from close to home; I have enjoyed seeing waterfowl cruising the waves of Lake Erie near the shore, where birds often forage, and diving ducks are often seen appearing and disappearing again under the surface. It was important to me to select a native aquatic plant to this region. The Black Tern is a species of bird that depends greatly on wetlands and habitat that the Duck Stamp conserves, and is regionally endangered, with numbers dropping disturbingly in the last several years. Finally, the emerald shiners are a small and beautiful native freshwater fish known to school in the conditions I've painted. Special thanks goes to Donald Einhouse of the NYS DEC Lake Erie Fisheries Unit, and to Matt Candeias for his insights into native aquatic plants.

It is my hope that my painting reflects the important work that the Duck Stamp Program does to preserve, maintain, help, and renew wetlands and all of the many species that depend on them.

Excellent!I also appreciate the fact that you take the time to identify the flora and fauna with their scientific names. In this world-wide DA community, this eliminates the confusion experienced for the curious viewer, such as when looking at an unfamiliar species of the Laridae family, and finding the only information in the highly imaginative title - "Gull". Duh!

But enough ranting from this bird nerd! Congratulations on another splendid piece of art!

The detail in the water and the Audibon-like strict adherence to the species' appearance are both clear wins in this painting. Beautiful work. I read your blogspot entry (always love the wip walkthroughs!), but I'm curious -- was there anything particularly challenging in painting this, or anything new/cool you learned while doing it?

Oh my gosh, this is stunningly beautiful. The water looks so real and I love the little minnows swimming underneath and the bits of plant poking out of the surface. This is such incredible work, I hope you keep it up!